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Welfare Groups Lobby to Prevent Legal Dog Racing in South Africa

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Cape Town, South Africa

Legalising greyhound racing will only worsen an already out-of-control animal welfare crisis the South African government has been warned.

The
Department of Trade and Industry kicks off a second round of public
consultations this Friday to gauge opinion on possibly reinstating legal
greyhound racing in South Africa.
Greyhound racing has been banned in South Africa since
1945.

The
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW – www.ifaw.org) said South
Africa already found itself in an escalating
animal welfare crisis.

“The ngo community, which is
largely charged with caring for animals in disadvantaged communities, is
overwhelmed and simply can’t keep up with overpopulation, disease control and
malnutrition,” said Christina Pretorius, Head of Programmes for
IFAW.

“That’s just one part of the
crisis. The fact is that South African authorities don’t have the laws, or the
manpower to manage illegal activities such as dog fighting and puppy mills –
tasks that are left to animal welfare ngos to sort out. Under the circumstances
it is inexplicable how they can even consider legalising greyhound
racing.”

IFAW said that
re-introducing greyhound racing under the poor socio-economic conditions that
affect much of the country’s populace would lead the dogs to be seen as
expendable commodities.

“By
encouraging the idea that one may profit from racing greyhounds, illegal racing
will spiral out of control in disadvantaged communities,” said
Pretorius.

“Additionally, greyhounds
that have reached the end of their usefulness as racing dogs (from two to four
years old), will be relinquished further adding to the burden of animal welfare
organisations and encouraging a destructive cycle of animal
abuse.”

IFAW’s projects in
South Africa – Community Led
Animal Welfare (CLAW) in Johannesburg, and
Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayalitsha outside Cape Town report that they regularly come
across large numbers of greyhounds.

“These dogs are usually used
illegally, for poaching small buck and game for the pot, and dogs are regularly
transported across provincial borders without the required vaccines to reach
favoured poaching spots. It is common that dogs are gored, have broken legs or
are run to ground while hunting,” said Cora Bailey, founder of
CLAW.

“The dogs are often kept in
squalid, overcrowded conditions. At various hostels in Johannesburg, it is not
unusual for us to find anything between 100 and 200 greyhounds living in
appalling conditions.

“Under the current
circumstances it would be disastrous to legalise greyhound
racing.”

Public consultations will
take place on the following dates and venues: